I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

The believer ponders or perceives hills. He is reliant upon God, perhaps in a mood of anxiety, insecurity, or pending trial of some sort. Perhaps he is being confessional and encouraging of others. But whatever he affirms is of enormous and lasting consolation to every child of God. The hills may suggest the strength of God in his work of creation. They are strong and elevated and may be symbolic of the power of God and the firmness of his promises.

It is likely that the author may be on the verge of a journey and has to traverse the hills and he is thinking of the dangers of robbers besetting him.

Whatever the thoughts that inspire him the poet is placing his confidence in the Lord who extends kindness and protection to his people and ably governs all that is in heaven and earth. Nowhere is the petitioner beyond the divine Presence or aid.

He will not let your foot be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.Behold, he who keeps Israel Will neither slumber or sleep.

In his providence and wise provision of continual welfare for his chosen ones the Lord is never off-duty. He will keep his folk steady and on the right track. They need not falter. The Lord does not doze off or waver in attentiveness. He keeps his people on the basis of twenty-four hour guard duty. Nothing escapes or eludes his eye. He is unresting, does not require refreshment, he traces every step of those he loves, and covers them with his close hand.

The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade on your right hand.The sun shall, not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night.

A double assurance is pronounced by the psalmist. Be certain. Our God determines to keep us. We are held by him and nothing can tear us away from him. Every moment he is watchful. Even his servant Mr Sun will not be permitted to scorch us. Sun stroke is ruled out though the noontide rays are full strength and withering without cover. God carefully, considerately, affords shade with his interposing hand as a barrier and his soft breath as a coolant.

Even the harmless beams of the moon will be softened into a gentle nocturnal kiss from gilded beams. In ancient times it was thought by some cultures that the moon was a harbinger of malicious spirits and ill-fortune. Such superstition is swept away by our faithful saint of old. Day and night divine concern follows, accompanies, and precedes God’s people – the individual, or “corporate Israel”, the company of the redeemed.

The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in From time forth and forevermore.

Our going out (from birth) to our coming in (home-going to heaven), every minute of the life of the elect, is diligently observed, and our immortal soul preserved, whatever eventuates upon our earthly pilgrimage - all dismay discarded.

“There are more things in heaven and earth than this world dreams of.”-Attributed to Alfred the Great

Scripture witnesses to unseen forces in conflict. Our world is the arena of intense spiritual conflict, the focus of fiendish attack by malicious spirits – fallen angels and Satan’s minions. Great powers clash and we are affected by the battle. We see and feel evidence of supernatural warfare but the combatants are not discerned by the human eye. Paul the apostle speaks of “the ruler of the kingdom of the air” (Ephesians 2:2) and enlarges upon the devil’s schemes and works of evil: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12).

The foes of humanity, and especially the people of God, are formidable. They are organized, relentless, of superior intelligence, and wreak enormous harm. They oppress mankind with many ills and calamities and subject persons of faith to bitter struggle, as Paul notes for our attention. Satan is the cruelest being in existence, utterly merciless, and keeps his servants on the prowl: Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (2 Peter 5:8). He perpetrates acts of evil personally, commands rebellious spirits, and influences those available to his pressures and temptations: The spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient (Ephesians 2:2). Man’s inhumanity to man in every aspect of its vile treatment is prompted by the prince of darkness. Given the cunning, wiles, lies, and strength of the evil one we ought not to be surprised at what he can persuade sinners to do and what torments he wishes to bring upon believers. Speaking of the sovereignty and omnipotence of God, John Newton observes: The powers of darkness are likewise under his subjection and control. Though but little of them is said in Scripture, we read enough to assure us that their number must be immensely great, and that their strength, subtlety, and malice, are such as we may tremble to think of them as our enemies, and probably should, but for our strange insensibility to whatever does not fall under the cognizance of our outward senses. But he holds them all in a chain, so that they can do or attempt nothing but by his permission; and whatever he permits them to do (though they mean nothing less,) has its appointed subserviency in accomplishing his designs.

But just as there are fiends busy around us, so too there are invisible friends. The Lord summons them to the help and reassurance of his folk at will. A reliable account comes from a medical missionary in Africa. A horde of murderous rebels was bearing down upon her medical center which was defenseless. Urgent prayer was offered to the Lord and the men of violence only perceived a fire enveloping the building and hastened noisily by. The medical staff and doctor were left safe in their clinic that had not burned at all. Not a spark was seen. No heat was felt.

When the prophet Elisha was under threat from a hostile army his fearful servant enquired, “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?”: ‘Don’t be afraid”, the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2 Kings 6:15-17). The Lord Almighty always has the majority. “The angel of theLord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them (Psalm 34:7).

​The importance of Zechariah’s message cannot be overestimated. When we contemplate the power of God and the extent of his capacities it is vital to keep the affirmations of the prophet firmly in mind. There are times without number when we shall need to share in his stalwart convictions concerning the ability of God to maintain his purposes and bring them to successful conclusion. Confidence in the Lord requires a sound foundation and Zechariah lays down that foundation in impressive and emphatic fashion. Eighteen times within the span of chapter eight he enunciates the stupendous fact that the God he knows and serves is the Lord Almighty!

In a time when the fortunes of the people of God are at a low ebb Zechariah is commissioned to convey a rousing message of enormous future evidence of the great strength of God on behalf of his chosen folk. They have been reduced to a remnant of returnees from exile in Babylon to the ravaged city of Jerusalem in need of major reconstruction. Their situation is depressing and their future daunting. The resolve to rebuild was weak and efforts were feeble, and it was hard to resist the hindrances and hateful attacks of foreign opposition. Results were poor and expectations low. The people of God were faced with the imposition of many impediments and the distressing reality of their own impotence. It was virtually time to give up.

The antidote to Jewish lassitude and loss of hope came in Zechariah’s reassurance of the authority and irresistible force of the sovereignty of God to be exercised in all that he wishes to accomplish for the cause of his kingdom. God is reliable. God is strong. He has complete power over all things. Indeed, he is omnipotent. The prophet steadfastly avers that his unchallengeable and due title is God Almighty. We are apt to neglect the profound meaning of this familiar form of address to the Deity. Its very utterance should cause us to tremble, and at the same time it should embolden the spirits of believers. Nothing can restrict the power of God when it is exerted in ways consonant with the perfection of his nature and all of his divine qualities and attributes. The strength of God is infinite and inexhaustible. This is the God in whom we trust and to whom we render our prayers and pleas. This the God who cares for us and who protects and provides for his people.

Current conditions cannot circumscribe his holy intentions. Though not decided or specifically known by us there could be an enormous range of impossibilities that could possibly lie ahead to be wrought and fulfilled if in agreement with his will. We cannot automatically discount extraordinary acts and interventions of the Lord when matters are dire or defeat appears inevitable. He is the Master of all matters. There are human unknowns known to the mind of the Lord. There is always hope in prayer offered in the midst of uncertainties. Whatever occurs was ordained in some inscrutable way. Our reliance upon God is never mislaid as we humbly submit to his wisdom, even with our difficulties.

Zechariah’s message is addressed to the people of God, therefore it is timeless, finding its completion in the mission of the Messiah through its various installments. The promises of God are manifested developmentally in history, first in Israel and then in the church, and his purposes are realized more broadly through divine governance in Providence. Everything is ordered by divine power and at divine pace. This is why Zechariah seeks to allay the fears of his nation. Though we sense tremors in our lives they ought never to convert to terror. We need supernatural nous to recognize that all is well ultimately.

Zechariah encourages the remnant of God’s people with the pledge that they will eventually resettle satisfactorily in their homeland. He adds the startling news of the ingathering of Gentiles to the knowledge of God and an enlarging of the borders of a spiritual Israel as is recorded in the New Testament. What he describes as the benefits of the power and grace of God is the inheritance of all believers meant to undergird and guard our faith and our hope.

In the words of the prophet recorded in chapter eight Zechariah is ministering to us. His eighteen uses of the term “Almighty” are a powerful testimony to us as to the ability of God to perform wonders – even to the end of time, unless he decides or declares otherwise. The deepest assurance is afforded to us, for our confidence, in the frequency of the phrase “The Lord Almighty says”. In the interests of his people God will work their welfare in all circumstances and all times. Our sense of what is our welfare may well differ from his, but he will secure it infallibly nonetheless.

It is the teaching of the word of God that the Lord is able to do the impossible. His deeds stun the mind of man. We have a natural tendency to severely limit the character and capabilities of the Lord. This either leads us to folly or faltering faith. The sinner counts on the supposed limits of God. The believer cowers due to the failure to acknowledge the boundless ingeniousness, creativity, resourcefulness, and competence of the Lord. Our God is always “too small” as alleged by Bible translator J.B. Phillips.

Verse six addresses our habitual underestimation of the greatness of God in his ability to bless those justified in Christ and blast those who remain guilty before him in their proud rejection of his salvation and forgiveness. “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time, but will it seem marvelous to me?’ declares the Lord Almighty.” God’s most astounding works to us are simply standard operations and ordinary works in terms of his actual and potential strength which can never be tested and cannot be tired. All his exertions are easy. All power is his both in boundless reserve and its exercise in real action.

Who can forecast the possible designs and deeds of the Lord with regard to any state of affairs. In Zechariah’s reckoning amazing events are likely “Because God is with you/us”, as witnesses may also observe (v23). We are unable to conceive the course or conclude the end of any matter. Our suppositions or speculations may be erroneous. The future is dark to us and we walk confidentially in the safety of the companionship of the Lord Jesus Christ who could have anything surprising in store for us. Charles Spurgeon exhorts us to look to Christ’s “suddenlies”.

The Bible urges us to observe its catalogue of impossibilities that came to pass or could do so if God determined. Abraham and Sarah could bring convincing evidence: Is anything too hard for the Lord? (Genesis 18:14). John the son of another Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth must have learned of the angelic word to his Aunt Mary, “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37) for he expressed the conviction, “For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham” (Luke3:8b). Note the possibility of a dual meaning of the preposition “with” in the first Lucan quotation: a) what God can accomplish, and b) what can occur in association with him. And observe the reference to Abraham (infertility) and the promise of his spiritual children through the gospel as alluded to in the second quote from Luke. The Bible is emphatic: the Lord is Almighty and nothing is impossible with God. Perhaps we may remain in good heart – expectant!

COLLECT FOR THE EPIPHANY:Lord God, you who by the leading of a star revealed your Son to the Gentiles: mercifully grant that we, who know you now by faith, may after this life behold your glory in the face of the same your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

How beautifully this collect portrays our Lord Jesus: First by a heavenly sign, a star, an emblem of striking and sovereign glory. Jesus emits a bright radiance that is set before mankind in a lofty and distant star that draws nearer and nearer. The false prophet Balaam, for all of his religious deviancy, was constrained to point to the coming Son of God as a star. “I see him, but not now; I behold him but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel” (Numbers 24:17). This image of the shining Redeemer of men is used again in Holy Scripture (Revelation 22:16). Balaam announces that at his point in time his vision is of a star that is not yet visible to the human eye. The Person it represents is not near. This unworthy Gentile who is at enmity with God and his people is nonetheless subject to the sovereignty of God and compelled to enunciate his truth. All must and will acknowledge the supremacy of Jesus. He is also the holder of the scepter of the Kingdom of God: “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience the nations is his” (Genesis 49:10).

At the birth of the Savior of men the star becomes visible and draws near to a band of several Gentile scholars of ancient astronomy, stargazers from the East. The foretold star draws the Magi closer to the One it prefigures until at last they meet him and pay their homage. The event of the visit of the wise men speaks volumes of the wise government of God and the unspeakable glory of the Son. The Lord rules the universe and may summon or create a star at will for his purpose. Something of omnipotent might and energy is packed into heavenly bodies by their Maker to cause them to endure as luminaries to reflect his splendor for vast periods of time. They move by the finger of God. That such arrangement can be employed to indicate the advent of the Son is manifestation of his divine excellence and exalted mission on earth – the bringing of the kingdom that God himself establishes among men on a universal basis to comprise both Israel and the Gentile world.

A marvel is beginning to unfurl in the Epiphany. The Royal Lion of Judah foreseen by Jacob (Genesis 49:8-12) will become the Ruler of all nations. The whole earth will see his star and perceive it in the gospel. Some hearers will be seekers, like the sages of the Orient, and some will be skeptics, but the name of Christ will be emblazoned among all peoples. His status and sovereignty will be declared through a second medium, added to which will be the message of his Saviourhood. The word of the Lord Jesus conveyed to us in the Scriptures will make him known to us through faith in their reliable and proven testimony. This knowledge of the Lord Jesus is implied in the text of our seasonal collect: “Mercifully grant that we, who know you now by faith… ” Christ is made manifest in the Testaments of prophetic and apostolic authorship. The word is the telescope that enables us to view the heavenly grandeur of the Son and the celestial realities about which he informs us. Scripture is indispensable and precious because God discloses himself and proffers his mercy through the entirety of his most holy book – the Bible, written by those who knew him and who were guided and inspired by him. Men wrote or recited the words of Scripture in their own characteristic way. The Spirit of God informed, illuminated, and infallibly influenced their minds as original and ultimate Author.

The consummate vision of God will occur at the conclusion of the journey of this life of faith. As the collect confidently affirms, faith will pass away and a face will shine in all its beauty, glory, and grace before us – a face that will charm our hearts and win all our devotion so that we may “behold your glory in the face of the same your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Advent is a season with a mix of solemnity and joy. The King and Judge of all the earth is on the way in the Person of the Lord Jesus. We share the anticipation of the saints of ancient Israel in the eventual fulfilment of the Promise. We celebrate the Incarnation of the Lord. We await his return with hope and eagerness.

The Son reigns eternally within the fellowship of the Holy Trinity. This divine rule of his is never ending nor interrupted with his assumption of our humanity. Now as the God-Man (Daniel 7: 13-14) he rules over the kingdom of faith and the whole company of the redeemed on earth. At the judgment, as the purchaser and gatherer of the saved, he will hand over this kingdom of the redeemed to the Father. The Triune God, the Son included, will continue to exercise universal and cosmic authority and we will be joint heirs of the glories of heaven with the Glorified Man who has won us a place with himself. He will elevate his blood-bought family to royal dignity as our Elder Brother.

The kingship of the Lord Jesus is multi-faceted. He rules over the earth. He rules his church, He rules over the entire creation – the interstellar zone of infinite extension (over and between the stars), and he rules in and from heaven where its holy denizens laud and adore him. Our Saviour possesses a complete dominion over everything.

If only this fundamental truth upheld and permeated our faith. How strong and joyful we would be. How greatly we would esteem our Lord. How we would rest in his total sovereignty and powerful care. This comfort is available in the Word which he wields as his sceptre, but we know that human faith waxes and wanes and that our sense of security wavers in the purpose of God so that our trust will be tested and strengthened, and our understanding of the divine ways mightily increased.

In all times and ages the people of God stand in need of strong hearts and encouragement. Particularly in our day we witness the overwhelming and fast moving tide of vicious and audacious evil in so many forms that alarm us. In the face of wickedness, injustice, and the rise of hostility the inspired psalmist has this to say to us in a splendid reminder: “Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you” (vv3-4).

Whatever sight and sense may affirm to our minds God will never abandon his own. Our Martyrs prove that God is with us in torrid circumstances and even in the midst of the flames should they engulf us. The kingdom of the redeemed on earth is transient. It lasts only for as long as sins are to be forgiven. When the season of grace concludes its members will be transported to paradise and the pleasures it affords. Our prospects are beautiful and bountiful in the unbounded goodness of the Lord: “But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away” (v9b - 10). Be merry this Christmas.

v1 We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago. How important it is to be acquainted with the great deeds of God. Israel was sustained by the testimony of its forebears. It enabled them to call on the Lord in desperate times. “Rise up and help us; redeem us because of your unfailing love” (v26). The power and affection of God were their sure resort. Scripture is a recollection of the saving acts of God on behalf of his people that are the ground of the appeals his loved ones make to him. What he did may recur in the experience of those who trust him subsequently. A precedent may become a prospect. God is faithful. Apart from establishing hope through Scripture senior Christians need to relate the acts of God of which they are aware “in olden times” to their younger generation. What is heard confirms the Word. The Bible is our foundation for confidence. Believers can verify that God remains loyal to his folk through his word and their witness.

v2 With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our fathers; you crushed the peoples and made our fathers flourish. Israel’s possession of the promised land was not a solo performance on their part. They fought, but God was the effective warrior in the fray. Sword and bow may have been wielded by men but God provided the initiative, skill, strength, and accuracy of Israel’s army. His invisible hand was the enabler of victory. When God’s people work in collaboration with him it is his energy and expertise that is working through us, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). The Lord is the principal and principle in the process - agent (prime mover) and author (of intent).

v3 It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring the victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them. God moves his servants to be the means of his righteous action. They acquiesce and act at his prompting, under his guidance, through divinely donated disposition and ability. He takes pleasure in them and prospers their efforts for his glory. Again, believers are working out willingly what God has wrought in them.

v4 You are my King and my God, who decrees victory for Jacob. Through you we push back our enemies: through your name we trample our foes. The people of God know times of setback and divine silence. The psalmist exercises his faith and dedication on behalf of his nation by asserting his recognition of the Lord’s sovereignty which has wrought favour in earlier generations. The negative factors that impede the wellbeing of God’s chosen ones, both internal and external, can be driven back by him and even destroyed. They are bothersome to us but easily quashed down by our Saviour. He has undertaken “to finally beat down Satan under our feet” (The Litany).

v5 Through you we push back our enemies; through you we trample our foes. Evil assails us through many manifestations - Satan, fellow humans, circumstances, and our own sin. We face an array of adversaries that could so easily overwhelm us and which certainly do test us. They can be repulsed by the Lord so that we may tread over them to freedom in Christ and maturity in holiness. Always and exclusively the pushback is the result of the power of God alone surging within us, and serving us without in the ordering of favourable providence.

vv6 – 7 I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. The psalmist not only has a perspective on the past. He is concerned with Israel’s present fortunes and they are low. He is a participant in the constant conflict of believers one way or the other. We may have instruments and weapons apt for adversity, affliction, and battle, spiritually and situationally, but they have no potency without the presence and blessing of God. God is the Overcomer who works through and in everything for the sake of the elect. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Again, we have the assurance that whatever is going on in creation, the lives of the converted and the contrary, God is in it in mercy or judgment. He performs through processes, unseen by his people (the saved), hidden from the perverse (the shamed).

v8 In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name for ever. In difficult and doubtful times (see the remainder of the psalm) the hymn writer does not fail in his confidence and exultation in God. Matters are dire and dreadful for Israel but his faith and fortitude in the Lord does not die and his praise is not dimmed. On the basis of the divine reputation and the repetition of saving history he exerts himself to extoll the nation’s Redeemer. The people provoke him to chastisement but God has a greater allegiance to himself than even to his people, and that is to his honour and his glory. That increases the security of our salvation. He will not be shamed by breaking his promises because his people fail in their obligations. He will rescue and deliver them for his Name’s sake (v5 also). God’s saved ones have no grounds for boasting in themselves. They are weak and wandering by nature. The evidence if too obvious. It is the unchangeableness of God’s covenant lovingkindness that guarantees final salvation and to this we can look with the psalmist.

Problems may pester us and worries may weary us to the depths of woe, but our disciplined preoccupation ought to be with boasting in the Lord. He can bless us when we are bereft of hope and lift us up when we are down. He can reverse our misfortunes and misery. Where we are helpless his help is effectual. Nothing can frustrate or overthrow the saving plan of God. He will rise up!

v9 But now you have rejected and humbled us; you no longer go out with our armies. The psalmist’s optimism has to deal with current divine displeasure. It is deserved by his disobedient people. They may not complain as to his justice. His wrath against them is warranted. The people are scattered because of their gross infidelity. We are scattered in our thoughts when God abandons us to our rebellious selves for a season. We become aware of our tendency to stray and rebel more keenly than ever before and we acknowledge our powerlessness to return unless he draws us. Humbling is always necessary for us and we forget that when God is upholding us. We mistake his strength for ours and his abilities extended to us through grace we count as our own. We trust our bow and rely on our sword. It is salutary for the soul to rediscover our total dependence on the Lord even in things we sense to be within our capability. Physical, spiritual, and mental ability are supplied by him. But even more important, so is the right intent and correct action. The sinner abuses the gift of energy he receives. The godly go with God.

St. Paul enunciates the controlling principle and passion of the Christian’s life.

The dominant attitude is reverence for Christ - the honour of his Name - upheld at all times and at all cost. The prevailing attitude is regard for the glory of Christ in his majesty and mercy. How beautifully these two characteristics of the divine nature are melded together and harmonised in the Lord Jesus, the self-expression of God. His majesty would affright us from approaching him, but accompanied by his mercy he chooses to invite us. Jesus is the lovely combination of the strong and the sweet. The leading aspiration of the believer is to maintain the dignity and worth of the Redeemer.

The Christian’s supreme aim is to maintain the due respect and recognition of the wonderful Name that is the Lord Jesus. His deepest regret is to tarnish the reputation and fame of Jesus and fail to represent him as he deserves. Our sins soil not him personally but public perception of him.

There is such lamentable weakness in ourselves, and such opposition from daily life in the world, that we often lapse in our resolve to live primarily for Christ and extoll his excellence in our being and behaviour.

Paul shared our frailty and struggles. No spokesman for the Lord is above the strife of temptation and the vulnerability of nature. They all wrestle with the issues common to every believer and are never immune from human foibles. Paul knew the daily difficulties encountered and the compromising circumstances that cause us distress and counter our faithfulness and loyalty to the Lord.

The world wields its weapons of opposition to the Saviour with deftness and craft and believers tremble at the subtlety of the mastermind behind evil attacks. He smirks as he works. He holds the highest qualifications in harassment. Ridicule or rage are hard for us to bear for the sake of our God. Belittlement is bitter. Put downs are painful. Insults can be excruciating. Therefore enticements to compromise or craven quietness in standing our ground for him are many and discomforting. Satan contrives to make human words sting and anything persecutory is injurious to our spirits.

In Christ our peace with God can never be destroyed, but our peace within can be seriously disturbed when we endeavour to live with our inconsistencies and note our imperfection.

Hence Paul counsels an overriding approach to life - carefulness, preparedness, watchfulness, and constant reliance upon Christ. He warns us that confidence in our ability to stand through human resources is a sure way of heading for a fall. Immaturity in Christ cannot handle spiritual elation when it occurs without getting puffed up. It is exceedingly easy to relax our guardedness, our alertness to moral danger, and our conscious communion with Christ. We can so easily slip in our spiritual integrity and stamina - our flesh and devilish foes are always awaiting an openness to assail us. Satan is a superior psychologist.

The wisdom that secures us is the mind stayed on Christ and the primacy of the safety of the soul committed to his protection. Distractions come in droves from every direction and we are diverted from our heavenly calling. Paul advises us to take every opportunity of resorting to Christ. Wherever we are, he is there, permanently with us - and our thoughts may turn to him in reflection upon the truths of his word - the things we know of him and all that he intends for us.

The maintenance of mature understanding prevents the foolishness that would entrap us in every form of folly or departure from godliness. The influences that would take us off track are legion and the enemy of our souls knows the likely inclinations of our character that can cause us to go astray. There are so many avenues to our minds and motives that can penetrate to the springs of our thought and behaviour. The practices and speech of those associated with us, the insinuations and suggestions they can offer, may catch us up in a bewildering net of that which is contrary to our desired holiness. The menu of the ever-present media can conflict with and distract from concentration on things divine. Various pursuits - sometimes quite legitimate - can, through over-emphasis and exaggerated importance, imperil the health of the believer’s heart.

Potentiality for departing from God is everywhere if we sacrifice the priority of dwelling upon him and his ways. Paul alludes to a very conspicuous danger for human kind. Not the fantasising with selfish gratification so much, the speculations of unbelief, or the sense of the presence and possibility of sin - that is, thought not centred upon God, but the escapism of excessive consumption of wine and intoxicating beverages that dull the mind and expose us to behaviour that can be unsavoury, unseemly, and immoral - unguardedness can lead us to laxity and bring great grief of soul before God. Paul’s prescription for spiritual wellbeing is the fullness of the Holy Spirit that excludes any rivalry for the possession of our hearts.

Speech among us ought to be comely and edifying - that is a difficult discipline to uphold consistently, but it does not require gloominess or sombreness. Disciples do not have to be dour. The Christian disposition can be merry in the Lord and hearts can make music in contemplation of his goodness and gracious gifts and promises to us. Our souls may sing the pleasures of knowing God and ring out with joy at the myriad benefits he bestows through and because of his Son and the Son’s action on our behalf. The internal and vocal melody of praise can become infectious as we each encourage and support the other in a mood of thankfulness and appreciation before a generous God. The habitual exultation in the Lord can exalt and lift up the human heart in an awareness of God’s lavishing of his varied grace upon us in so many ways.

We ponder in positive terms that rouse the heart and mind to joyous apprehension of the Lord and all the privileges that come to us from his own liberal heart and open hand. He is extravagant in his mercy and provision. Hearts that dance with delight in God, and which revel in our glad dependence, become humble and naturally assume the posture of humility.

In our willing submission to him we defer to the wellbeing and dignity of our fellow believers. Mutual honouring and cherishing is the divine ideal and we cry for the grace to make these things actual in our fellowship with each other.

We have such inducements to gratefulness before God and generosity of spirit among ourselves. May God increase in us the love of his Name and our love for each other.

RJS]]>Thu, 10 Sep 2015 13:08:08 GMThttp://www.livingoracles.org/meditations/two-glorious-ministries2 Corinthians 3: 4 - 9 & Exodus 34: 29 - 35The apostle Paul contrasts two ministries:the ministry of Moses and the ministry of the men of the New Covenant.Each ministry expresses the character and will of God, and the glory of those ministries belongs to God.No competent ministry in the name of the Lord brings glory to man.Glory is the unique possession of God.Our creed, our asseveration and confession is – always, absolutely, and exclusively – “Thine be the glory!”.Any excellence in the servants of the Lord is reflected splendour only.Glory cannot be attributed to them. Moses’ face only shone because he was in the presence of the Lord in the tent of meeting.The radiance of his face would soon fade.Glory did not originate in him.Nor does it in any human being.The ministers of the New Covenant have no cause to boast.Paul the inveterate boaster because of his breeding and attainments frankly admits this:Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant (vv4-6a).Any sufficiency, any achievement, any good thing in thought or deed is of God.God is the initiator of excellence; man is the instrument.In the service of the gospel this is particularly apparent.To personalise it, Paul and Moses are both servants of the gospel in different phases of its disclosure.They were both preachers of righteousness.It is a simplistic summary, and there is much inevitable overlap, but Moses was the preacher of divine righteousness revealed in the law given to him on tablets of stone on Mount Sinai, and Paul was the preacher of human righteousness wrought on man’s behalf in Jesus Christ. Both men commenced from the same foundation.The human race has fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).We were created in the image of God and that image has been shattered by sin – revolt against God rather than lives lived in harmony with his holy nature.The first reality has to be brought to our understanding.We need to know the law – God’s wholesome rule for our benefit and protection – that we have rejected and broken.We need to be aware of our defection from God and the danger of our situation.To be at war with God is fatal. Moses was given that law to announce to the people.It was instruction in God’s righteousness and our unrighteousness.The tablets Moses was given drew a contrast between ourselves and the Lord.They revealed that we merited condemnation and walk the path of death. The law in its brilliant display of holiness – God’s essential and beautiful goodness and our responsibility to reflect it – opens before our eyes the great gulf that separates man from God.The law etched in stone reveals the evil of our hearts through our rebellious lack of conformity and when Moses, on discovering the wickedness of the people during his absence from them threw the stone tablets to the ground forcefully breaking them he was demonstrating a broken law that sentences man to exclusion from the presence and favour of God forever.The letter in stone kills not because of the law but because of our lawlessness.We cannot keep the law and have cast it aside.The ministry of Moses was to awaken us to sin – its horror and horrible result.Our disobedience has nullified the benefits of the law.If we divert from a narrow mountain road we are in trouble.If we divert from the law we fall. The ministry of Moses was to alert us to the danger that surrounds us and the future peril that lies in wait.Moses informs us of our need of a Saviour and he foreshadows his coming.In declaring the righteousness of God, the responsibility of man, and the promise of a Redeemer the ministry of Moses was truly glorious.We in hindsight see it to be Christocentric, an anachronism to historians, but a wonderful fact to believers who acknowledge Moses to have been in receipt of a divine commission from the God who is directing history and the timeless universe to the ultimate manifestation of his majestic excellence. The inferiority of Moses’ covenant is not from God but the plight of man that has rendered the law impotent as an instrument of retaining and regaining communion with the Lofty One.Moses had embarked upon an enterprise that was preparatory and promissory in its nature.It required fulfilment.Realisation is greater than expectation:“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1: 17).Posting an item of mail is vitally important but the purpose is that the addressee should receive it.Moses ventured to draft the message of grace and Jesus revised and delivered the heavenly news of complete salvation. That is why Paul can exult:If the ministry that condemns man is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! (v9).The new covenant is not of the letter but of the Spirit.This is not an objection to information in print or an excuse to ignore the Bible, sit loose to the text, and follow one’s wildest and most fanatical impulses.It is simply to say that the message of the gospel must be engraved upon the heart from whatever medium it is received.The Spirit writes the conviction of sin upon our consciences – the interior record of our unrighteousness, and then he inscribes the gospel of our salvation through Christ on the internal page of our understanding.The Spirit through the word illuminates the path of life carved out before us by our blessed Saviour. By the law we cannot gain the righteousness that makes us acceptable to a holy God, nor can it to the slightest extent win his favour.According to the law we are dead, doomed, and done for, rushing to the second death.According to the gospel, which Moses anticipated, God has provided that missing righteousness for us.It is his own credited to us.It is nothing to be found in or formed by any of us (Romans 3: 10-20).It is a pure gift received through faith – not from faith – in the one who has performed it on our behalf via passive and active obedience.God’s law is glorious.It reflects his goodness and provides his loving guidance.But we have repudiated it.We don’t want God and we despise his instruction.Our breach with him is total.Now the law serves no benefit for our restoration inwardly or to God.But it guides us once we are his. God’s love through Christ, announced in the gospel is supremely glorious.For believers in Christ’s accomplishment on our behalf – who place their confidence entirely in him, renouncing all worthiness and forsaking all self-righteous works in an attempt to please him – Christ’s perfect righteousness is our qualification for access to God, acceptance by him, and everlasting life with him.Our hearts are radiant with gratitude and joy, and our lives, sometimes only dimly, but always partially, reflect the splendour of God in renewed nature created by the Holy Spirit. We are not creatures of doleful duty striving for righteousness.We are folk of enormous delight in Christ’s righteousness donated to us.The ministry of the law has shown us our spiritual destitution.The ministry of the new covenant has presented us with our restitution – our retrievalto God through a righteousness not our own but accounted as ours by the merits and mercy of the Lord Jesus.How brightly we should shine with the reflection of his glory (Romans 1:17).RJS ]]>Mon, 17 Aug 2015 06:27:29 GMThttp://www.livingoracles.org/meditations/spiritual-drink

1 Corinthians 10: 1 - 13It is always a joy for the believer to discern intimations of Christ in the Old Testament. These are by no means rare but often the Christian eye is not trained to detect them. We have his warrant to scan every page in search of references to him. “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luke 24:44). That is wide-ranging territory over which to search for knowledge of the Lord Jesus and it encompasses every department or class of biblical literature conserved in the book of divine revelation to Israel. The narrative, the poetry, the wisdom, the prophetic oracles and instruction, all have something to say about Jesus, our need of him and his answers to our needs. The Old Testament is abundantly rich with references to Jesus and the key themes of his Gospel.“This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24: 46-47). These assertions of the Lord maintain the perpetual currency of Israel’s ancient writings regarded as canonical. In the sense that they point with accuracy to him and his completed work they are up-to-date descriptions of the mission of the Messiah published before his time on earth. The ultimate thrill of Bible study is to fit the expectations to the fulfilment that Christ would achieve - to connect the pieces as it were. Put them together and you view the visage of the Lord Jesus. It is exquisite delight. The apostle Paul endorses the ongoing, indisputable validity of the heritage we gain from Israel’s ancient authors. He brings all his Jewish learning and expertise to bear upon the commendation of constant attention to the former writings of his nation: “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). The Old Testament announces Jesus with more clarity and detail than many believers suspect, and it flows into the New, its confirmatory evidence, as the basis of the apostolic testimony. The two Testaments merge in witness to Christ and they should never be wrenched apart by our commencement of the reading of the Word of God at the Gospel of St. Matthew. This evangelist plundered the truths of former divine disclosure as the Lord Jesus himself indicated that he would: “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old” (Matthew 13:52). We have one Bible with two sections of equal value. Christ combines the treasures of each in his wondrous self. And so Paul warns the Corinthians of the lingering evil tendencies within believers and the latent lusts that can be aroused through spiritual carelessness by taking converts, Jewish and Gentile, back to the episode of Israel’s wanderings through the wilderness, prolonged by their constant departures from the holiness the Lord conferred upon them (external consecration) and wrought within the elect among them (interior conversion). “For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel” (Romans 9:6). This last insight explains the falling away of nominal professors.Jesus Christ was the contemporary of the people of Moses and both leader and led offended him in rash and rebellious behaviour. The Redeemer is presented metaphorically as the Rock that satiated the thirst of the escapees from Egypt and followed them on their disciplinary journey to Canaan. “They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ (vv2-4 cf Numbers 20:1-13). Through the word of Moses and the spiritual presence of the pre-incarnate Christ the Lord Jesus was the guide of the Old Testament version of the people of God (a fact also exhibited in the cloudy and fiery pillar). Early manuscripts of Jude state that it was Jesus “who delivered his people out of Egypt (v5). And Moses was the tutor who was leading his folk to an apprehension of Christ (Galatians 3:24). The psalter develops the motif of the divine Refresher whose saving grace gushes out upon the spiritually dehydrated meandering through the desert. “He opened the rock, and water gushed out; like a river it flowed in the desert” (Psalm 105:41).The grand and stupendous truth of the pre-existence of our Saviour is established in the Mosaic record, the rejoicings of the psalmist, and a preferred reading of Jude (F.F. Bruce) in his knowledgeable witness to his brother. These are glimmerings of the greatness of the One who reinstates us to the favour of the Father, who mediates between us and our Maker. The notion of miraculously provided water culminates in the claim of Christ, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said (e.g. see above and other places), streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:37b-38). This is the fulness and flow of the Spirit who proceeds from the Son as the pre-eminent spiritual donation. Christ is the rock from whom gushes the Spirit of regeneration, effective proclamation of the Saviour, and eternal life. The Old Testament is the indispensable trigger to all these marvellous things contained in Christ and poured upon chosen mankind, summed up as saving knowledge of the dear Son of God. Paul deftly moves from the accompanying rock of old to the cup of the Lord in the new administration of the continuing covenant considered as the will and testament of the incarnate One who died for his people. We of this aeon drink from the same Christ as our forbears in Israel en route to the Promised Land. Their gaze upon him was distant and dim, through the screen of desert dust storms as it were. Our view of him is plain and clear through the reports of eye-witnesses. The rosy red cup of the Lord, drunk by faith, is a sensible means of confirming our derivation of forgiveness and everlasting life from the atoning blood-shedding of Jesus Christ. Our physical partaking of the memorial wine signifies our spiritual drinking - the slow imbibing and savouring of the fact of the Redeemer’s death, its meaning and benefits for us. The Lord’s Table is an awesomely holy place and the occasion of his Supper is to be observed with deep reverence and righteously obedient disposition free of known offence and in peace, joy, trustfulness, and gratitude of heart for the intervention and intercession of Jesus on our behalf. We are cautioned by Paul not to be casual in approach or condoning of any evil within, or conflict with others we may reasonably correct. The judgment on errant Israel makes us wary. Our due judgment meted out to Christ our Substitute qualifies us to come and encourages us to be willing. Lovely John “Rabbi” Duncan, administering the cup during a great service in Edinburgh, noticed a lady courteously declining to take the wine. Sensing her doubt and consciousness of unworthiness he returned with the chalice, proffering it to her with the consoling words, “Take it. Its for sinners’. The water of life; the blood of Calvary - our spiritual drink all the way home.RJS

Zechariah 4 : 1 - 10The prophecy of Zechariah is colourful, intriguing, and magnetically Messianic. It deserves close inspection, close comparison with the New Testament, and circumspection in conclusions drawn. Rich symbolism can lead to ridiculous speculation in the interpretation of prophecy. Rather than look for sensational events, calendar dates, and spectacular visible occurrences in this and similar writings, such as Daniel and Revelation, the reader should anchor research in figurative biblical literature in the area of Christology - what is the text indicating about the magnificent Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, his lofty status and lowly service in providing salvation for those anxious to find it. Key biblical themes are treated in Zechariah’s graphic instruction. His pictorial preaching and use of imagery bring out the profundity and beauty of God’s saving design through Jesus Christ. It is the creation of the divinely unequaled ingenuity. If our minds were to brood over Scripture we would all find it breathtaking. Compacted in this brief passage we discover an array of arresting truths...*God’s surprising providence: Zechariah cautions us in our easily arrived at assumptions. Man is readily impressed by appearances. Brightness and largeness bedazzle and mesmerise us. We need to probe more deeply for the factor of quality in anything we survey; we cannot measure the strength and success of the divine purpose by what we sense and see. The angel, the envoy of encouragement, reminds us that all things are presently in the making. The end will disclose the magnitude of the divine mission on earth, and the consummation of his course of secret and steady action will bring joy to his people ﻿(v10)﻿. Whether men despise the day of apparent small things in a spirit of ridicule, or whether they mourn the day of seemingly small achievements or none, God is working incessantly and tiny things will eventually tower over us. *Divine revelation is always an awakening: Our distance from God and dullness of understanding always demand the presentation of a sharp shock to human minds. We would never dream of God’s wondrous disclosures as to himself, his wisdom, and will. He astounds us with his truth. With his intimations of his nature and mind insight is always a gift. His intentions and actions require his own explanations, and these he freely gives (v1). His words inevitably evoke our enquiry and by his Spirit he stimulates investigation in which he acts as our guide and mentor. *The word of the Lord is supreme in its power and wisdom: We are lifeless and uncomprehending without it - adrift in a sea of inherited and self-invented illusion. God’s speech in Holy Scripture conveys comprehension. His dual explanation (Word and Spirit) is supernatural. The angel arrives before Zechariah as divinely commissioned messenger and in this role he represents the Holy Spirit who effectually addresses heart and mind. The Spirit is the power of perception into the word, of progress in the word, and performance of the word. How marvellous is the progress of God’s orchestration of his word. He inspires it, intimates it, and instils it (v6). *The Lord counters all opposition to his people in their obedience to the word: We find opposition within and without. Our drooping spirits often defeat us. Distractions divert us. Destroyers assail us. The internal and external enemies who seek to foil the word of the Lord constitute a high mountain that the Lord will eventually level. For Zechariah the reconstruction of the temple was a stalled project. For ourselves in this generation the resurgence of truth and holiness in the Church seems distinctly unlikely. We are in a day of small things and huge opposition. But the word of the Lord informs us that no hindrance to the kingdom can prevail. Every obstacle however huge, however formidable, firmly fixed and established, however daunting, can succeed in preventing the triumph of God. His omnipotence reigns and all combative competition will crumble. *The kingdom of God will will continue and gain completion: Hostile forces face annihilation and all their threats and attacks will accomplish nothing except their utter extinction as effective forces. Great powers arrayed against God will be ground to powder. Resistance and the routing of the enemy is assured and all resources and accomplishments are the Lord’s through his human agents (v9). *Absolutely all is of grace: Grace is the greatest word of the Bible when you examine its context and content. It encapsulates all that the Triune God intends and achieves on our behalf. His fabled might and majesty display themselves in mercy - the mercy embodied in the Messiah. This is the apex of Biblical revelation. The glorious secret and subject of divine disclosure is Jesus Christ. He is the foundation of our saving faith and the finisher of our faith inasmuch he initiates our rescue and brings it to perfect fulfilment (Hebrews 12:2 - “the perfecter of our faith”, “source and finisher” - Amplified Version).The excellence of the Lord Jesus is captured in Zechariah’s reference to the capstone, the last stone to be cemented into a completed structure (v7). Zerubbabel’s hands are illustrative of the saving hands of the Lord Jesus. Finalization of the divine enterprise of human redemption will be achieved by the Messiah - “this temple”. Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. (John 2: 19-22). The final touch in the project of human restoration is that of Jesus the Christ. He is the expression and end of God’s grand design for the recovery of our race. What a colossal assignment he has kindly undertaken. The “plumb line” that proves his competence and endurance in his task is the gospel vindicated by assessment of history and the massive record of conversions to God. Believers rejoice exuberantly in him (v10). As the Lord’s folk we are never to despise the day of small things - the days of small significance and the things that scarcely count in our estimation. All circumstances of whatever dimension are used of the Lord in his sovereign might. We are not to yield to hopelessness, nor to be overcome by our weaknesses and failing. We should never be cowed from any cause. The sole and successful power of our faith-life is of God through his Spirit. His power is all-conquering, all-enabling, and incontestably supreme. And the predicted moment of triumph is Jesus Christ’s.And he shall bring forth the capstoneWith shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”Zechariah 4: 7bRJS